British Delegation Offers Positive Thoughts

Tuesday, October 02, 2007 04:06 PM

Halton Mayor Mike Hodgkinson listens as Halton Borough Council Chief Executive David Parr is interviewed by members of the media ( photo Opinion250staff)

The Halton Borough Council delegation visiting Prince George will be heading back home with some positive thoughts about the region.

Like Prince George, Halton is poised to be a key transportation hub for goods entering Britain. Located east of Liverpool on the Mersey River, the region is looking at intermodal opportunities.

David Parr, Chief Executive of Halton Borough Council says while the pre-fab housing industry is interesting, but it will take some work with the UK builders are used to using brick. “We have talked with Winton Global, I think there are some opportunities there because the UK Government, through our Prime Minister Brown, are looking to increase our house building program and I’m, sure some of the properties you provide here will give us the opportunity to look at new building opportunities. We tend to build our houses in brick and stone, you tend to use timber, I can understand why with all the timber around here, and I think there is an opportunity for us to look at a different way of how we build our houses in the UK.”

Parr says they are also considering a “twinning” with Prince George, along with the possibility of pre-Olympic training here heading into the 2010 games.

The Mayor of Halton Region, Mike Hodgkinson, says he is looking forward to exploring the tourism opportunities. The delegation will be heading east through the Rockies. He is also very impressed with the region’s forest practices “This morning we heard about the beetle problem, from what we’ve been told, you definitely have the best practice when it comes to forest management and a lot of countries could learn from you, regulation may be a problem, but I am sure you have a long term future here.”

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